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bloggerblog

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 27, 2007
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How hard will it be to put an M1 into a Powerbook Duo, and have it dock in a DuoDock to provide USB-C out?
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xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
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While the motherboard could probably be made to fit, I would think significant barriers would be the interface of the keyboard, trackball (or trackpad, depending on the age of the Duo) and the screen.
I'm betting the keyboard and trackball are ADB-based. Can't even imagine what the screen would be; some of the Duos had passive-matrix B&W and color screens.
Would be an interesting exercise in futility.
 
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Doq

macrumors 6502a
Dec 8, 2019
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The Lab DX
I could see this potentially working with a M1 mini board and breakouts for the aforementioned display and inputs.

You would undoubtedly need to manufacture your own adapter for the keyboard and track(ball/pad), and potentially the display-- though you may get lucky and find a driver board for it depending on your model, the chances of that are very slim.

But that's for just the laptop. If you want USB-C out for your Duo Dock, you'll need to, at the bare minimum, have a Thunderbolt port come out the back where the PDS slot would be. You may even want to put both back there, and then have a male cable (or two) wired in to the Dock where the Duo goes. From there, you can install your Thunderbolt dock of choice inside your Duo Dock; and, pending any wiring adjustments, you should be off to the races.

I'm not sure if a MacBook Air/Pro board would fit in the Duo's chassis; I think those boards are wider than the Duos themselves (any of them), which is why if you (or anyone) plan on actually doing this going with a mini would be the best choice.
 
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